Duck with rotting flesh

[Kweil1]

Hi. Our duck was attacked by an animal 3 days ago. His neck looks really bad. We were not sure if we should have put him out of his misery but he is special to us and we wanted to try to save him. We cleaned the wound, applied hydrogen peroxide, and neosporin ad wraped an ace bandage around it. Now we have an antibiotic spray for him. His skin is improving in some areas, but one part of his neck is begininning to rot and we noticed two maggots yesterday. Does this mean he will only get worse? He is drinking water but not eating. He only drinks if his mate is around. However, she pecks at him a little bit, so I am not sure if it is worth the risk. This is our first time raising ducks. I don't want to put him out of his misery but not sure if I have too. Please help. Thank you

 

[DuckLover3]

I have no idea.....Have you tried also posting on the emergency forum?

Hope he gets better!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Something to read, and get him where flies cannot get to him keep the wound covered, http://www.ehow.com/how_7684285_flush-maggots-out-animal-wound.html you may have remove the rotting flesh, not for the squmish but if he is special you can do it. Keep his mate with him it will help him feel better, but keep the wound clean medicated and covered. I can't say enough that you Need to keep him in an area where it's fly free. also might want to think about putting him on some kind of antibiotic either injectable or in his water since it's so bad, Penicillin is recommended which you can get at a feed store, also Veterycin spray for wounds and infection at TSC or feed store. So sorry this has happened sure hope he makes it.

AND

just wish it was on a better note.
And don't keep using the Peroxide it will kill good tissue it's good for initial cleaning though.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Their are also anti-fly ointments available to put on the wound: We have one called SWAT. We had to get this after our horse was given an emergency trach last summer. It did a wonderful job when applied daily: Not one fly or maggot even in the midst of summer. I have heard that regular petroleum jelly like Vaseline may also work, but am not sure as I have not used it myself.

Good luck and I really hope you can save him.

 

[Kweil1]

Thank you so much everyone for your help. I just undid the bandage again and there were more maggots...So cut it off huh?

 

[Kweil1]

Thank you. I am afraid if I cut it off it will bleed profusely. Do you think this will happen? It is on his neck and it is about the size of a quarter....

 

[Tahai]

I have no experience with this, but here are some ideas:

• Maggots: Use a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water to flush the wound. Use sterile tweezers to remove all visible maggots or eggs. Do this 2x a day until you have 2 days of no maggots. Do a google search on fly-strike
• You can get Quick-stop from your farm store to stop any profuse bleeding that may occur. You can also use corn starch.
• If you have leaches, you could try leach therapy on the necrotic skin.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you. I am afraid if I cut it off it will bleed profusely. Do you think this will happen? It is on his neck and it is about the size of a quarter....

Have you trimmed the feathers back as far as you can so you can get to the wound? and did you read the instructions on how to kill and clean maggots out of the wound? http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/Ce-Fi/Debridement.html#b after reading this It's going to be a painful procedure for your duck but sounds like if you don't the healthy tissue won't be able to grow back. Not sure about bleeding.

 

[Amiga]

I have no experience with this, but here are some ideas:

• Maggots: Use a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water to flush the wound. Use sterile tweezers to remove all visible maggots or eggs. Do this 2x a day until you have 2 days of no maggots. Do a google search on fly-strike
• You can get Quick-stop from your farm store to stop any profuse bleeding that may occur. You can also use corn starch.
• If you have leaches, you could try leach therapy on the necrotic skin.

ditto, I would try saline instead of H2O2, perhaps, but prepare yourself for a long haul and start working on it. This is urgent care.

 

[Captain Cluck]

You may want to move the pair into the house to keep the flies off him if you can't put them into a screened area. If his Missus keeps picking at his bandages, maybe separate crates right next to each other would work.

My lone surviving duck, Lucy, has been indoors since I found her the day after the attack. I have been fortunate that we haven't had a maggot problem, but her scabs are now sloughing off and leaving skinless patches on her, I use really sharp small scissors (embroidery scissors will work) to cut off dead patches of skin. You can sharpen them by cutting a piece of aluminum foil a bunch of times before you use them. Check them on a piece of kleenex for sharpness.

You may need someone to hold your drake while you trim his feathers and necrotic skin. He may allow you to do it or he may want to 'bite' you. Let him- it gets out his frustration and won't injure you. I usually have my husband hold her and drape a towel over her and let the part I'm working on stick out. It helps keep her calm.

Once you remove the dead tissue and clean the wound so there are no more maggots/eggs, then pack it with antibiotic ointment wihtout pain reliever (at least without any "caine" pain reliever.) My duck's worst injuries were on her head, so I couldn't wrap them (a gash between her eyes and down the side of her bill, you could see some bone - and a bunch of bites on top of her head just before her crest).

Maybe you could use a vet wrap in a color close to your drake's natural coloring to hopefully prevent the picking. Although my duck didn't bother her leg bandages and they were bright blue painter's tape over kleenex bandages. I read on here somewhere to use unscented regular kleenex (not the soft linty stuff) as a bandage instead of gauze because it is easier to remove tissue stuck in a scab or wound than the gauze fibers. It has worked for me so far. Although I find gauze pads are better to use for debridement if you must keep a puncture wound open.

I board my chickens at a small farm, and the woman who lives there uses Scarlet Oil on all her poultry wounds. Even if there is a big patch of skin missing, she sprays the wound down good and lets the bird go. It has worked for her. The birds healed, but had minor issues. She never had any head wounds - just neck or leg wounds that earned those 2 birds the monickers "Leggy" (who walked with a straight leg) and "Necky" (whose neck is forever bald) - LOL. Since Lucy had head wounds, I chose more conventional treatment.

As far as the drake is not eating. Lucy didn't eat the first day after her attack, Just drank water. I added poly visol without iron and bite homeopathic to her water and offered her favorite food on earth - green peas, She refused all forms of food whether it was crumbles or pellets, wet or dry or anything else and lived on green peas for a week and a half before she would even look at pellets. I think her bill hurt too much. It had been chewed on by the nasty scary thing that tried to kill her. Sometimes when she ate, it looked like her bill moved independently of her head. I don't know if that is normal, but I let her have what she wanted. I figured, if she lived, she will get better. If she died, at least she had what she wanted and I tried.
The skin on her bill is still rough and peeling, and she has a hole on the edge, but she is eating anything she wants, now, and digs in the mud.

Keep posting here with your questions, Somebody will have suggestions eventually. If you want to read everything I did for Lucy, it's on the duck forum and called How Lucy Got Her Groove Back.